Spring Lambs & Other Creatures

The first phase of 5 raised beds took a bigger step forward this weekend with the final joinery and positions completed. Then followed the task of filling then wheeling lots (around 20 me thinks to fill the smallest bed) of barrows of well matured horse muck up the slope - Steve kept using the phrase 'the green gym' to keep me/us going! We popped a couple of hens into the first bed who worked diligently to create a finer till, the rest of the hens soon joined them in a frenzy to grab a few worms from the thousands wriggling in the muck. Later this week I'll be planting 3 blackcurrant bushes (Ben Lomond variety), 3 redcurrants (Jonkheer van Tets), 3 red gooseberrys (Red Dessert) and 3 green goosegogs ( Careless) in that particular bed. We'll also be putting a rabbit/hen proof wire around the perimeter to protect the crops. Next weekend will see a few more wheel barrows of muck shifting to fill the next beds

Quite a few lambs have already arrived but this weekend the children were around to witness the birth of triplets which was quite exciting. Initially they were engrossed but after number 2 arrived they got bored and wanted to go back to trampolining! Next weekend is the start of a busy lambing week with most of the remaining ewes due, so far there've been a couple every few days but the majority are still to deliver

An finally...we visited our friend's new pigs. They are tamworth x vietnamese pot bolly I think. Very amusing creatures.

Eureka - the snow arrived

We finally got some snow this week and although it has melted a little after a couple of days there is still enough to play in.

The view at 7.30am this morning - epic! Pink mountains and crisp white show. Chilly outside at -7degC.

The trees looked fabulous on the first morning after the snow fell. School was still on but we had to walk rather than travel by bus or car. It was a real pleasure given the beautiful scenery.

The crunchy snow gives very clear evidence of animal activity - mainly rabbits plus a visit from foxy loxy.

We dusted off our snowboards and we're now thinking of piling more snow on this slope to create a better run!

Wooly Guests

We're providing a temporary home to a neighbour's Texel ewes to escape the worst of the winter before/while lambing; its very exciting having them here - the children are expecting lambs to appear daily, all being well the first should arrive in a few weeks. The texel breed is well regarded and originates from Texel island off the north coast of the Netherlands. They have very strong features and quite large faces, they look tough. Its great having them here - all the fun of watching them with none of the responsibility of looking after them!

Raised Beds Under Construction

A mixed bag of weather this weekend but we have made progress on the veggie garden. On Friday (in sunshine) the ground was levelled and cleared of its rubble and general debris and then on Saturday the general preparation of the timbers for the edge of the beds was done. We are using the joists from the demolished house to create the frames; most of these are 5.5-6metres in length which works a treat for the space we have available for the raised beds. The joists themselves are 10inches in depth which is fine for the beds and once they were de-nailed have been placed approximately in position while we 'fine tune' the layout. The first phase should create 5 rectangular beds of approx 1.5m by 5.5m.
We've got lots of well rotted horse muck to fill the beds with - a job for another weekend!